Intro
Contents
With vinyl comes clicks, creaks and plops, right? Well… actually, not really. Admittedly, the noise floor of vinyl is higher than that of digital audio, but it usually gets absorbed by nice music. However, ticks, ckicks and pops do not belong on the recording and can be disturbing. Fortunately, there is often a good solution: give the record a good cleaning. We tested three record cleaners: the Okki Nokki ONE, the ProJect VC-S3 and the Degritter Mark II.
Before playing a record, the majority of enthusiasts will neatly use an antistatic brush before the needle lands in the groove. However, no matter how neatly you handle your valuable collection: eventually, dirt will get into the grooves that cannot simply be brushed away. In that case, deeper cleaning of the vinyl is the only option.
Now that can be done by hand in the sink, using some dishwasher fluid, but we advise against it. For a lot of reasons. A slightly better option is the Knosti Disco Antistat. We did that once in a distant past. And yes: it works quite nicely. But just leaving the records to dry, creates some residue that does not go away easily.
Better methods
Better are those machines where you apply cleaning fluid with a brush, and then vacuum everything away neatly. Good examples are the Okki Nokki, the ProJect, or – if you have considerable cash – the Clearaudio, for example.
In addition to the brush-suction-machines, there are also ultrasonic cleaners. A good example is the Degritter. This works with ultra-high frequencies to create resonance that will get rid of the dirt in the grooves. Jewelers also work with this type of cleaner to clean jewelry.
With the Degritter, the plate still rotates through a container of demineralized water with cleaning fluid; thus, it is still necessary to dry the record. However, the Degritter handles that as well.
The candidates
We requested three models for this test. We put the specifications and prices in the table below for easy review.
| Model | Included | Dimensions | Price |
| Okki Nokki ONE | Cleaning fluid (concentrate)Brush
Dust cover Puck Power cord |
31 x 28 x 20 (WxHxD)5 Kg | 550 Euro |
| ProJect VC-S3 | Cleaning fluid (ready to use)Brush
Puck Power cord |
41 x 32 x 272 (WxHxD)8 Kg | 699 Euro |
| Degritter Mark II | Cleaning fluid (concentrate)
(no demineralized water!) Booklets SD card Power cord Additional reservoir |
37 x 28 x 21 (WxHxD)9 Kg | 2900 Euro |
Nice review. Record cleaning works! Me myself I have a HumminGuru Nova, a cheaper ultrasonic cleaner (650EU) and it is very easy in use and works well too. You put a dirty record in and you get a clean dry record out, that sounds more open, detailed. Remaining scratches get softened. Also here fingerprint removal does not go well, so I remove them before. Probably not as good as the Degritter, so I clean the record often twice, but for me with a small vinyl collection a fine alternative.